My first 100

On April 2nd and 3rd, I am attempting my first 100 mile race, the Philadelphia 100 Endurance Run. This will be my first try at this distance. I'm both excited and nervous as the big day fast approaches. My training, which started in December...of 2009 (!) has been slow and steady, and I think I've done all I can to prepare. Still, you never know. I'm about to find out!

I've been overwhelmed with all the enthusiasm that my amazing family, running friends, and the great folks at PhillyFit have for this crazy attempt. For myself, it is a natural evolution of who I am, how my running career has progressed, and my exploratory nature. I'm sure that to many others it is yet another affirmation of my personal insanity, but that makes it all the more fun.

First, a word about this zany, unorthodox race. The course is a bit less than ideal for a trail lover like myself, but it is local and gives all of you a chance to see one of the few 100s held in the country up close, with relative ease. The course starts and ends at Lloyd Hall, next to Boathouse Row. It is 12 loops around the Art Museum/Schuylkill Loop (Art Museum to Falls Bridge), 8.4 miles each. That adds up to 100.8 miles for those who are counting at home, and I'm sure the extra steps will be "sorely" felt. There is no support for the race, no entry fee, no t-shirts, no numbers, nothing! It starts at 6 AM Saturday, April 2nd, and you can run until 6 PM Sunday. You can start later on, leave the course and go home and come back, stay overnight at the Four Seasons--anything goes.

Because several dear folks--and I'm floored by the kindness--have expressed interest in giving a hand, I'm posting some information about the event, what to expect, and how you might help if you so desire.

For my own sanity and as a convenience to others, I've worked out a schedule for when I leave for each loop. I'm starting at 9 AM (but will be there at 6 AM to set up). My goal is to run this in under 24 hours, so my finish time is 8:55 AM on Sunday the 3rd. Here is the schedule (note that it has changed from an earlier one):

Loop	Loop start	Loop time	Loop end	Break length	Pace (min)	Pacer(s)
1	9:00 AM	1:24	10:24 AM	8 min	10:00	Jeff P.
2	10:32 AM	1:28	12:00 PM	9 min	10:30	Jeff L.
3	12:09 PM	1:32	1:41 PM	10 min	11:00	Sophorn S.
4	1:51 PM	1:36	3:27 PM	11 min	11:30	John C.
5	3:38 PM	1:40	5:18 PM	14 min	12:00	Jeannie A./Jen A.
6	5:32 PM	1:44	7:16 PM	15 min	12:30	Sherry C.
7	7:31 PM	1:48	9:19 PM	16 min	13:00	Sue G.
8	9:35 PM	1:52	11:27 PM	17 min	13:30	Smileys
9	11:44 PM	1:56	1:40 AM	20 min	14:00	Margorie S.
10	2:00 AM	2:00	4:00 AM	21 min	14:30	Steve B.
11	4:21 AM	2:04	6:25 AM	22 min	15:00	Renee H.
12	6:47 AM	2:08	8:55 AM		15:30	Kristie M.

Ways you can help:

1. Keep me company! Nothing would be better than to run a loop with you. As you can see from the schedule, I will be following the ultrarunner's mantra: "start off slow, and then back off", so this will be a leisurely jaunt for most. I will likely have a hard time keeping up with you, so please be patient. I will also be incorporating a pretty structured run/walk schedule.

1B. Cheer on everyone! All the runners in this event are amazing people with compelling stories and are worthy of support by all. Be sure to share your enthusiasm with them, maybe of whom will need it as they take on their own challenges. I'd encourage you to pace others as well if you wish; the ultra community is a tremendously grounded, thoughtful, compassionate, and inspirational community that is infectious to all who experience it.

2. If you do want to pace me for a loop, please let me know what loop, so I can expect you. Email me at canethrasher@gmail.com or Paula at phillyfitorg@verizon.net.

3. Lend me some brains. I have a lot to keep track of, and I'm sure I'll get worse at it over time. If you can make it down, anything you can do to remind me of things between loops that should normally be self-evident would be most appreciated. This includes remembering to eat, chafing, hydration, ibuphofen, sunscreen, run/walk schedules, lighting, marking the course for nighttime, clothes changes, foot care, and electrolytes. Don't worry, I will have solutions for all of these things, but I may forget to tend to them between loops.

4. Have some good stories. If you are running a loop with me, chances are I won't be terribly chatty, especially later on, but please don't be shy! Words of encouragement and words that pleasantly distract are cherished during ultra events. Here is a good primer for pacers.

5. Food. If otherwise compelled, please do not go out of your way here. I've made it pretty well in training on a combination of gus, PB&J, cereal bars, chocolate chip cookies (oh, the shameless delight of ultras), and Ensure. Things that may work later on could be hot soup/ramen noodles, doughnuts, pop-tarts, and boiled potatoes. However, I'm going to be really cautious with the food, and I can't predict whether I will try or want any of these things, so this really isn't much of a concern or priority to me.

6. Following the action. We don't quite have it worked out yet, but there will likely be some sort of an online update that will intermittently posted somewhere, most likely here or on the USAFit/Philly Facebook Page. Contact myself or Paula and we will give you details as they are worked out. I'm hoping to post between loops if I can manage it.

7. Give yourself a hand. I couldn't have gotten to this point without you, and you are deserving of as much of the (non-existent, sorry) schwag for the race as I am. Thanks so much to all, and most especially to my patron saint, my wife Lori, for all of her love, patience, and belief.

Crew/pacer/spectator tips

For those of you who will be at the race, here are some tips paraphrased from the race director:

We will have volunteers there … more specifically, to watch the stuff the runners bring. Do not expect them to do everything for the runners as this is a self supporting race. Please be kind to these volunteers … they are here to help us, and are doing it for free. (Note from Pete: if you want to volunteer, the race director is Lauri Fauerbach Adams at phila100@gmail.com.

It appears we will be the only race on Saturday so we should have our pick of parking spaces. Note that there is free parking on Sedgely across from Lloyd Hall up through Fairmount until Girard Avenue, and further down westward on Kelly and Lemon Hill. There is also parking east of Lloyd Hall at the apartment complex across from the Art Museum. Note that the metered parking on Kelly IS HIGHLY MONITORED by PPA, and they mean business. So don’t intend on parking there for extended periods of time, unless you want a big fat ticket and/or a tow bill as a Philly souvenir. (Note from Pete: I'm assuming that the lot at Lloyd Hall will be available as well)

There are nice heated bathrooms at Lloyd Hall that are open when Lloyd Hall is open (read = DAYTIME). These are stocked and maintained by the facility itself. Since we do not have permits for this event to avoid me having to charge you huge entry fees, we are out there as a regular running group. I therefore do not have any more authority over the cleanliness as well as the stockage of TP etc. than you do. Last year there were several events running concurrently with ours so the Lloyd Hall bathroom did not always have TP. Perhaps you want to bring your own. Along the course there are various portajohns. Some are cleaner than others, based on personal experience at various events. These are maintained by Fairmount Park on a semiregular basis. Some are cleaner than others. But they are there.

If anyone pacing with a racer would like to run a single loop, or even 5K, they can "enter" the race too. Just have them email me at phila100@gmail.com their name, city/state, distance, and time and I’ll record them on the website. This is a fun race which attracts an eclectic crowd, from meanderers like me to some very talented and credentialed runners. So smile, be courteous to the runners and cyclists with whom we’ll share the path.

Now let's go rock this!